The kids and I went to the supermarket yesterday. (I could say that nearly any day of the week and it would still be accurate. Safeway should charge us rent.) Anyway, we went because I didn’t have anything for dinner and Mark needed a prescription filled.
So, I loaded the kids up in a car cart, the awful, awful car cart. Kess started pulling Makena’s hair almost immediately and a skirmish began. They continued for a bit until I finally decided to put Kessler in the top of the cart near me. He was still none too happy but we continued to look for the items on the list I never created.
At one point I realized that Kessler had nabbed something.. It’s a pastry decorating pen. I realized he had it but didn’t realize he been chewing on its cardboard container. I couldn’t put it back on the shelf in its altered condition, so I chucked it in the cart. (every home needs a $10 pastry decorating pen, don’t they?)
Kessler remained in his funk despite his high fiber snack so I put him in the cart with the rest of the groceries hoping that would occupy him for just a few more minutes. It worked well enough. I was so happy to finally arrive at the register. Kessler helped me unload the cart and I started to look for my wallet. It wasn’t in my purse!! But I knew I had it earlier. I told the cashier my dilemma and asked if I could run to the car to check for it there. She was extremely sweet and understanding. So, I left the groceries on the belt and started running—while pushing the car cart. Now, I wasn’t breaking any records, but I was definitely hurrying. Imagine my surprise when I tried to maintain my speed as I reached the threshold of the automatic doors and the car cart stopped--cold. Kessler toppled over in the cart and I knocked the wind out of myself.
The cart would not budge. What the hell??! Someone behind me said “It’s the magnets.. you can’t leave.” To this I astutely said, “huh?!?!” and continued to push the cart. Now, I’m not sure what came over me.. but I made the decision that, so help me, this cart was going to go through that door. Like a mad woman, I grunted and pushed and pushed and grunted… the cart inched forward. “I’m almost there” I thought. “Just a little more!” I silently cheered myself on. In my mind I was supposed to cross the threshold and feel the magnets loosen their grip as I finally escaped the invisible hold of the doors. Only, that didn’t happen. Once the front of the cart crossed the threshold it became attached to the metal rail just outside. It was all I could do to push the back end of the cart around so that I could squeeze my way through the door and around the cart.
Once I did I grabbed the kids (and Kessler’s shoes) and schlepped them to the car. I threw the shoes and my purse inside and grabbed my wallet and schlepped the kids back inside to the register. My stuff was no longer on the belt when I returned. Before my head had a chance to explode the cashier told me she had it all and to come ahead. I briefly explained what had happened and she told me that if the cart doesn’t come through the checkout lane that will happen!! No way!!!
I had to put both kids down so that I could get my ATM card from my wallet. As soon as I did Kessler took off running and Makena followed. I quickly swiped the card and chased them down. I hoisted each of them onto a hip and headed back to the register. As I scurried back I twisted my ankle nearly dropping both kids. I limped back to the register where I gladly accepted the offer of “help to your car, ma’am?” Hell yes. Thank you. Needless to say I could not get home fast enough.
Now, today was gymnastics day. For some reason I woke up this morning feeling undeservingly confident. I decided that after gymnastics I would take the kids to Chili’s for lunch. Kessler was not a happy camper while we watched Makena in her class. There was no doubt in my mind that our lunch plans should be cancelled. But, again, something came over me. I decided that we were going to go to Chili’s for lunch (period). So, we did.
Kessler started throwing anything within arm’s reach. The staff was amazing. Before the stuff hit the ground they were over to pick it up. Our waiter brought out each item as soon as it was ready so that we could get started. Kessler (and I) definitely appreciated this. He settled down as soon as he started to eat. The waiter also brought our check with the food—he explained that he didn’t want me to have to wait on him, but no rush. Again, this was greatly appreciated. I decided it was an excellent idea and grabbled my purse.
Do you remember yesterday… how I threw my purse and Kessler’s shoes in the car—then retrieved my wallet? Well, when I returned to the car I didn’t put the wallet back in my purse. Lucky enough the kids were angels for the rest of lunch so I had plenty of time to ponder how I managed to let this happen twice in as many days. Finally, I worked up the nerve to tell him. He, just like the cashier, was so extremely nice and understanding.
I made the walk of shame to the car with kids in tow.. again. I paid the bill with a large tip. Thank goodness because the waiter had to chase me out of the restaurant to return Kessler’s sippy cup. I strapped the kids in the car and yes, I put my wallet in my purse.
When I pulled in the garage at home Makena said, “Mommy!! We made it home after all!” Even she doubts my competence!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
I had better blog..
There have been events that are blogworthy but I'm finding that since I have no more business stuff to do, I'm never in the office. And since I'm never in the office, I'm never at my desktop. And, since I'm never at my desktop I don't blog! I do use my laptop all the time, but all the cables/cameras and such are in the office! Quite a quandary, eh?
In a parallel quandary, our point and shoot camera no longer shoots. So, we bought a replacement yesterday--a Canon 880SI. I LOVE this camera. Anyway, unlike the older camera, it has a memory card that I can insert into my laptop to download the photos. Easy Peazy!
So, I'm hoping the solution to quandary two, will alleviate quandary one as well and I'll be back to blogging at more frequent intervals.
With that being said—let me show off my new camera!!
In a parallel quandary, our point and shoot camera no longer shoots. So, we bought a replacement yesterday--a Canon 880SI. I LOVE this camera. Anyway, unlike the older camera, it has a memory card that I can insert into my laptop to download the photos. Easy Peazy!
So, I'm hoping the solution to quandary two, will alleviate quandary one as well and I'll be back to blogging at more frequent intervals.
With that being said—let me show off my new camera!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Return from my hiatus..
I haven't blogged in a while--as I tend to do more often than I'd like.
There are two immediate reasons why I needed to blog. The first and most important is to congratulate Julie, Ken and Phoebe on the new addition to their family--Ruby Grace! She was born on Janurary 2nd. She doesn't understand it yet, but she is a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful family to look after her.
I can't wait to meet her!
My second reason is to tell a funny story...
We were sitting at the kitchen table last night. I glanced up at the digital display on the oven to see what time it was. It said 5 .41. It was well past 5:41 and the time was displayed in the wrong format. My first thought was that it's some error code and I'll end up having to call a repair the next day. So, I forgot about it and moved on.
Have I mentioned that Kessler likes to press buttons? Kind of like how his dad likes to press my buttons.. only Kessler likes to press ALL buttons. Well, this morning at about 2:00 a.m. I was awakened by a loud beeping noise. "Beep........ Beep....... Beep..." I laid in denial for a few seconds. Then I tried to will the sound away. Finally I decided I better check it out. As I descended the stairs I could tell the beeping was coming from the kitchen.. the oven, in fact. I finally recognized that the beeping was the timer. Yes, Kessler in his button pushing frenzy, had set the timer on the oven. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways I can be woken up in the middle of the night.
At least I didn't have to call a repairman today.
There are two immediate reasons why I needed to blog. The first and most important is to congratulate Julie, Ken and Phoebe on the new addition to their family--Ruby Grace! She was born on Janurary 2nd. She doesn't understand it yet, but she is a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful family to look after her.
I can't wait to meet her!
My second reason is to tell a funny story...
We were sitting at the kitchen table last night. I glanced up at the digital display on the oven to see what time it was. It said 5 .41. It was well past 5:41 and the time was displayed in the wrong format. My first thought was that it's some error code and I'll end up having to call a repair the next day. So, I forgot about it and moved on.
Have I mentioned that Kessler likes to press buttons? Kind of like how his dad likes to press my buttons.. only Kessler likes to press ALL buttons. Well, this morning at about 2:00 a.m. I was awakened by a loud beeping noise. "Beep........ Beep....... Beep..." I laid in denial for a few seconds. Then I tried to will the sound away. Finally I decided I better check it out. As I descended the stairs I could tell the beeping was coming from the kitchen.. the oven, in fact. I finally recognized that the beeping was the timer. Yes, Kessler in his button pushing frenzy, had set the timer on the oven. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways I can be woken up in the middle of the night.
At least I didn't have to call a repairman today.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Souffle
Several weeks ago I asked Makena what she wanted for Christmas. She said a bear. A few days later I asked her again and received the same answer, a bear. Not realizing what a bad idea this was, I asked her what color bear. She said purple.
Easy enough, right?
I started my Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. I wasn't stressed about finding a purple bear so that remained at the bottom of my list. Whenever I was in a store that carried stuffed animals I'd take a gander. This occurred a few times before I started to realize purple bears aren't as easy to come by as I originally thought.
This past Sunday I had the babysitter come so that Mark and I could go on a date. Realizing the time was slipping we decided to turn this into a purple bear finding expedition. Seven stores later we were still purple bearless. We did, however, find two. The first of which was a little bear in one of those vending machines with the claw--you know, pay $.50 to watch the claw wrap perfectly around the bounty only to have the tentacles slip off like cooked, wet spaghetti. This was at Toy's R Us and the bear was buried deep beneath a zoo of other animals. :) Mark found the manager who was dealing with his own zoo at the customer service counter. There were at least five customers in line with returns--on a Sunday night at 9:30. We decided to continue on--it was an ugly bear anyway.
The next one we found was at Target--it was a Care Bear though. For some reason, I don't like Care Bears. I don't know why. We bought this one just in case, but letting a purple Care Bear be the result of all of our efforts just didn't sit well with me. Nor did it with Mark.
Yesterday he called me from a store in San Francisco. He was back to bear hunting. He called from store number two, still without bear. I started another online search--we had done many of these but never found a bear worthy of the shipping cost.
That was until I tripped across this site: www.800bear.com. Here, I found Souffle. A beautiful, cuddly, purple bear. Shipping was only 1.5 times as much as the cost of the bear--a bargain compared to other websites. I placed my order which included the words/image for a personalized bib. We Love Makena! In the comments section I asked if it would arrive tomorrow? (please). Within seconds I received an email from Bruce indicating that it would. And, that Souffle is now extinct! We bought the last one!
Mark called to tell me that he was in a store with more purple stuffed animals than he has ever seen in his life. He found another purple care bear, but no real bear. He decided to get a purple racoon and a purple skunk to keep Souffle company.
Souffle arrived about 15 minutes ago--he/she/it is safe and sound waiting in his/her/its box until he/she/it can be placed under the tree with love.
Easy enough, right?
I started my Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. I wasn't stressed about finding a purple bear so that remained at the bottom of my list. Whenever I was in a store that carried stuffed animals I'd take a gander. This occurred a few times before I started to realize purple bears aren't as easy to come by as I originally thought.
This past Sunday I had the babysitter come so that Mark and I could go on a date. Realizing the time was slipping we decided to turn this into a purple bear finding expedition. Seven stores later we were still purple bearless. We did, however, find two. The first of which was a little bear in one of those vending machines with the claw--you know, pay $.50 to watch the claw wrap perfectly around the bounty only to have the tentacles slip off like cooked, wet spaghetti. This was at Toy's R Us and the bear was buried deep beneath a zoo of other animals. :) Mark found the manager who was dealing with his own zoo at the customer service counter. There were at least five customers in line with returns--on a Sunday night at 9:30. We decided to continue on--it was an ugly bear anyway.
The next one we found was at Target--it was a Care Bear though. For some reason, I don't like Care Bears. I don't know why. We bought this one just in case, but letting a purple Care Bear be the result of all of our efforts just didn't sit well with me. Nor did it with Mark.
Yesterday he called me from a store in San Francisco. He was back to bear hunting. He called from store number two, still without bear. I started another online search--we had done many of these but never found a bear worthy of the shipping cost.
That was until I tripped across this site: www.800bear.com. Here, I found Souffle. A beautiful, cuddly, purple bear. Shipping was only 1.5 times as much as the cost of the bear--a bargain compared to other websites. I placed my order which included the words/image for a personalized bib. We Love Makena! In the comments section I asked if it would arrive tomorrow? (please). Within seconds I received an email from Bruce indicating that it would. And, that Souffle is now extinct! We bought the last one!
Mark called to tell me that he was in a store with more purple stuffed animals than he has ever seen in his life. He found another purple care bear, but no real bear. He decided to get a purple racoon and a purple skunk to keep Souffle company.
Souffle arrived about 15 minutes ago--he/she/it is safe and sound waiting in his/her/its box until he/she/it can be placed under the tree with love.
Monday, December 22, 2008
An Older Photo
This photo was taken at Big Sur when Makena was a month shy of two.
It reminds me of the photo that I posted of Kessler and Mark so I thought I'd post it as well.
It reminds me of the photo that I posted of Kessler and Mark so I thought I'd post it as well.
Chicken What?
Makena was wandering around chatting to herself as she does. I noticed that she was saying something over and over again--Chicken Butt. Chicken what? When Mark came home he noticed as well. He asked me what she was saying and I told him.. Chicken Butt. We decided to question her about it. She repeated what she had been saying, Chicken Butt. I asked where she had heard that. She said, "Goofy"--meaning Goofy said it in an episode of "Clubhouse Mickey"; that's her favorite show.
Okay, so she can't possibly be saying Chicken Butt then. There would be no reason for Goofy to say that. So, after dinner we headed upstairs to watch our dose of Mickey and sure enough, in a sort of tourette syndrome-like outburst, Goofy says, "Chicken Butt!" How surprising!
Saturday morning Makena came in our room to go potty. Mark was helping her--out of no where she looks at him and says, "Chicken Butt!" Later in the day she came up to him to tell him a secret.. she whispered "Chicken Butt."
Needless to say we can't help but laugh. Not just because it's a silly phrase but because of Makena's little devious giggle. She's quite the jokester!!
!
Okay, so she can't possibly be saying Chicken Butt then. There would be no reason for Goofy to say that. So, after dinner we headed upstairs to watch our dose of Mickey and sure enough, in a sort of tourette syndrome-like outburst, Goofy says, "Chicken Butt!" How surprising!
Saturday morning Makena came in our room to go potty. Mark was helping her--out of no where she looks at him and says, "Chicken Butt!" Later in the day she came up to him to tell him a secret.. she whispered "Chicken Butt."
Needless to say we can't help but laugh. Not just because it's a silly phrase but because of Makena's little devious giggle. She's quite the jokester!!
!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Kessman
Semblance of Sanity
There’s a lot to report on the Kessler front! First, there hasn’t been much sanity to go around in my little world. Kessler was waking up between 5:45 and 7:00 a.m. at the latest. Even at 7:00 a.m., I just wasn’t ready for it. I haven’t been sleeping well, so I thought I was just tired. Even still, Mark gets up at 5:30, so I should definitely be able to handle anything later. I finally realized it wasn’t just that he was waking up earlier than I’d like it was that he was waking up quite upset. Often times he wanted to be held, but not while sitting. The day just seemed to go downhill from then on. Anyway, I resolved to get up earlier than him so that I could be mentally ready for it. I did this for about two days and it was great. Then, Kessler started to get up later and later. For the last week he’s slept in until 8:00 most days. A few days I had to wake him up at 8:45 so that I could get Makena to school. AND, when he wakes up he starts talking and talking and talking. It’s so sweet. When I get him from his crib he’s so much happier. Mark and I were even able to sleep in this weekend—though neither of could, it was nice to have a lazy morning for a change. In addition, Kessler has started doing marathon naps, up to four hours at times. I cannot begin to tell you how much better this has made my life (more the sleeping in than the extended naps). I don’t think I’ve completely realized it all yet (I’m very slow that way).
Speaking of naps, two days before Kessler extended his from 45 minutes to four hours, Makena stopped altogether. I thought this was going to be a problem but Makena is so beautiful and it’s nice that she has sometime to play without Kessler jumping all over her.
Kessler’s First Haircut
First, I forgot to bring the camera to Kessler's haircut!! The good/bad thing was that he cried from the time we put him in his little red convertible barber seat until about the time we strapped him in his car seat. Mark and I had to hold him down nearly the entire time while the wonderful stylist quickly made him look like a little man. So, there wouldn’t have been any good photos anyway. Does that make you feel better? Not me. Oh well. Here is our little stud:
Can we breathe now?
With Makena it was easy to commit to having our new life with child resemble our old life without. We still ate and traveled just as always. It wasn’t as easy, and some times were far worse than others, but as a whole it was fine. We definitely felt that keeping her in practice was better than locking ourselves inside. With Kessler we have had to make some changes. This is partially because Makena isn’t completely self sufficient yet but also because he is quite a bit harder to handle. He doesn’t like to sit still for long and the simple distraction techniques that worked on Makena do not work on him. We’ve definitely curbed the traveling and we’ve stopped going to nicer places to eat. But, we still go out, often with dread. We decided to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium today. It took us about two hours to get there, but it wasn’t too bad. Makena and I went to get a sucker (she remembered having one last time we were there in July). Mark and Kessler went to the otter exhibit. We returned to find Kessler glued to the glass. He was pointing and twisting and “talking” away. He didn’t want to miss a thing. We stayed there for several minutes before deciding to move on. He cried and made it very clear that he did not want to leave. We took him to the next big exhibit with sharks, cod and eel, etc—same reaction from Kess. He absolutely loved it. He would point and look at Mark and babble with amazement. We were elated to see him so interactive. I'm hoping we've turned a corner and can start looking forward to trips out of the house again.
We went for a short walk after leaving the aquarium. It was raining pretty hard, but we had such nice day we didn’t want it to end. I had to put Makena’s jacket on so Mark and Kessler went ahead of us. Again..the sweetest thing:
This was taken a little later:
I'm so glad things are getting a little easier.
There’s a lot to report on the Kessler front! First, there hasn’t been much sanity to go around in my little world. Kessler was waking up between 5:45 and 7:00 a.m. at the latest. Even at 7:00 a.m., I just wasn’t ready for it. I haven’t been sleeping well, so I thought I was just tired. Even still, Mark gets up at 5:30, so I should definitely be able to handle anything later. I finally realized it wasn’t just that he was waking up earlier than I’d like it was that he was waking up quite upset. Often times he wanted to be held, but not while sitting. The day just seemed to go downhill from then on. Anyway, I resolved to get up earlier than him so that I could be mentally ready for it. I did this for about two days and it was great. Then, Kessler started to get up later and later. For the last week he’s slept in until 8:00 most days. A few days I had to wake him up at 8:45 so that I could get Makena to school. AND, when he wakes up he starts talking and talking and talking. It’s so sweet. When I get him from his crib he’s so much happier. Mark and I were even able to sleep in this weekend—though neither of could, it was nice to have a lazy morning for a change. In addition, Kessler has started doing marathon naps, up to four hours at times. I cannot begin to tell you how much better this has made my life (more the sleeping in than the extended naps). I don’t think I’ve completely realized it all yet (I’m very slow that way).
Speaking of naps, two days before Kessler extended his from 45 minutes to four hours, Makena stopped altogether. I thought this was going to be a problem but Makena is so beautiful and it’s nice that she has sometime to play without Kessler jumping all over her.
Kessler’s First Haircut
First, I forgot to bring the camera to Kessler's haircut!! The good/bad thing was that he cried from the time we put him in his little red convertible barber seat until about the time we strapped him in his car seat. Mark and I had to hold him down nearly the entire time while the wonderful stylist quickly made him look like a little man. So, there wouldn’t have been any good photos anyway. Does that make you feel better? Not me. Oh well. Here is our little stud:
Can we breathe now?
With Makena it was easy to commit to having our new life with child resemble our old life without. We still ate and traveled just as always. It wasn’t as easy, and some times were far worse than others, but as a whole it was fine. We definitely felt that keeping her in practice was better than locking ourselves inside. With Kessler we have had to make some changes. This is partially because Makena isn’t completely self sufficient yet but also because he is quite a bit harder to handle. He doesn’t like to sit still for long and the simple distraction techniques that worked on Makena do not work on him. We’ve definitely curbed the traveling and we’ve stopped going to nicer places to eat. But, we still go out, often with dread. We decided to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium today. It took us about two hours to get there, but it wasn’t too bad. Makena and I went to get a sucker (she remembered having one last time we were there in July). Mark and Kessler went to the otter exhibit. We returned to find Kessler glued to the glass. He was pointing and twisting and “talking” away. He didn’t want to miss a thing. We stayed there for several minutes before deciding to move on. He cried and made it very clear that he did not want to leave. We took him to the next big exhibit with sharks, cod and eel, etc—same reaction from Kess. He absolutely loved it. He would point and look at Mark and babble with amazement. We were elated to see him so interactive. I'm hoping we've turned a corner and can start looking forward to trips out of the house again.
We went for a short walk after leaving the aquarium. It was raining pretty hard, but we had such nice day we didn’t want it to end. I had to put Makena’s jacket on so Mark and Kessler went ahead of us. Again..the sweetest thing:
This was taken a little later:
I'm so glad things are getting a little easier.
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